---

The Miami Hotel in the heart of Bangkok was built in 1965 at the height of the Vietnam War, catering for American GIs visiting the region.

With the Thai capital going on to become the world’s most visited holiday destination, most of the properties surrounding the hotel on Sukhumvit Road have been bought up and demolished by developers who have replaced them with five-star hotels, apartment blocks and shopping malls.

But Miami’s owner, Ton, has turned down ‘’eight-figure sums’’ in dollars to part with his beloved hotel, which has been in the family for three generations.

Incredibly, design lover Ton has retained the hotel’s original 1960s architecture as well as furnishings such as desks, clocks, lamps, leather chairs, jukebox, telephone switchboard, beds, tables and bathrooms.

Even the hotel’s swimming pool has the same design and tile pattern.

The hotel’s authentic retro décor has seen it become popular with producers as a location for films and television shows, as well as photographers who use it for fashion and magazine shoots.

Located in the middle of lower Sukhumvit, the hotel still offers ‘short time’ rooms for 600 baht for a couple of hours for men to take their mistresses, or more often, sex workers from the streets and bars outside.

But the hotel’s main customers are holidaymakers and families from around the world.

---